The New Sojourn Baptismal + a big thanks to Scott Ramser
July 1, 2009 by Michael Winters
You'll need to do some imagining, but this picture shows the wooden form for our new baptismal that will be used for years to come at the 930/ Germantown campus. The guy with the big smile is Scott Ramser. Scott has worked super hard on both this baptismal and on our new communion table (blog post w/ pics coming soon) so if you see him around, say thanks.
The final bapstismal will be this 8-sided shape and covered inside and out in copper. The design is intended to be subtly reminiscent of a casket because baptism is a symbol of being buried with Christ and raised to new life. It has eight sides because eight is traditionally the number of regeneration, and many historical baptismal fonts have an octagonal base for this reason. Other biblical foreshadowings of baptism also relate to the number eight. It can be assumed that because of Jewish custom, Jesus was circumcised and named when he was eight days old and baptism is understood by some Christians as the New Testament equivalent of circumcision. Also, eight people were saved in Noah's ark, which is another Old Testament parallel of baptism.
The new baptismal should be ready for the next round of baptisms.
July 1st, 2009 at 6:26 pm
I just realized all that stuff about the number eight might make me sound like one of those freaky numerology people.
July 1st, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Wow! This looks amazing- I definitely appreciate the thought and symbolism going into the aesthetic. However, isn't it only paedobaptist who hold to baptism as a replacement of circumcision?
July 1st, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Ummm...maybe. I just copied the text from some website. I thought it sounded good, but I guess that's why you smart folks go to seminary. I've edited the post to say some people understand baptism/circumcision that way.
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:08 am
Baptism is definately in some sense the NT equivalent of circumcision:
In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. (Colossians 2)
Credo and paedo baptists just differ in working out the similarities and differences.
Interesting stuff about the number 8!!
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:03 am
Looks great. Will be great to see the finished product. Michael, does this mean Octavious/Octavia is being considered for your first born?
July 7th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Coooooooooooooooool.